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May 21, 2008

Masterson Shines Again

Justin Masterson hadthoughts of matching Jon Lester with a no-hitter of his own, or even a perfect game, "but that was taken away in the first inning" when Alex Gordon doubled with two outs.

Masterson allowed only three hits in 6.1 innings -- all of them to Gordon. Only one Royal reached third base against him, a leadoff walk in the seventh inning which became the only Kansas City run of the night.

Sean McAdam sees Masterson as a possible bullpen asset later this season. ... Coco Crisp talks about being a part-time player.

Julian Tavarez accepted an assignment to Pawtucket over free agency. ... Curt Schilling threw from 100 feet Monday. ... Brandon Moss, who had his appendix removed on May 3, is 8-for-13 in three extended spring training games in Fort Myers.

Francona acknowledged he will use Alex Cora as a late-inning substitute for shortstop Julio Lugo. The move is being made because the manager wants his best defensive team on the field and in close games. ... The move is not permanent, Francona stressed, but there are reasons why it has been made now, including Lugo's high number of errors (11, most in the majors), his recent concussion and Cora's defensive prowess.

More than a few SoSHers take issue with the final three words of that sentence.

Yes, I find this tres bizarre. I have to believe there is something we are not being told, because both stats and observation would tell anyone that Lugo has more range and a stronger arm. If the Sox wanted a player who could hit and not field, they might as well have kept Nomar. But that's not Lugo.

$10 is one thing, but how much of the $8m are the Sox going to be willing to dine on? At least next year, we'll be done paying for Renteria, so we'd presumably only be paying three shortstops from July until the end of the season.

Who would we get? You think Lowrie is ready? Next year, maybe.

And is Lugo that bad? I mean, he's a bit of a disappointment at $8m (or is it $9m?) a year, but you can't have a freakin' superstar at every position. The Sox liked him for a long time, finally got him, and now they have to live with him. It's not like he kept us from winning the Series. He has his moments.

And is Lugo that bad? I mean, he's a bit of a disappointment at $8m (or is it $9m?) a year, but you can't have a freakin' superstar at every position. The Sox liked him for a long time, finally got him, and now they have to live with him. It's not like he kept us from winning the Series. He has his moments.

I agree with Zen. I'm not running out to buy a Lugo t-shirt, but the hatred of him is out of proportion to his playing. He's on base as much as anyone on the team. Not that OBP is the only criteria, but we've had deader weight for longer that people complained about a lot less. And it's true, you're not going to have gold at every position, no team does.